Laparoscopic resection of colon cancer is a safe and feasible procedure that improves short-term outcome. Results regarding the long-term survival of patients enrolled in large multicenter trials will determine its role in general surgery.

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Between August 1991 and June 1993, 74 laparoscopic and laparoscopically assisted colonic and rectal operations were performed. A variety of procedures were carried out including 32 total abdominal colectomies (group 1), 32 segmental resections (group 2) and ten constructions of a diverting stoma without formal resection (group 3). Indications for surgery were mucosal ulcerative colitis in 20 patients, carcinoma in 12, polyposis in six, Crohn's disease in seven and other conditions in the remaining 29. The 74 comprised 42 male and 32 female patients of mean age 45 (range 12-88) years. The median (range) duration of the procedure was 3.0 (1.0-6.5) h for the entire group, 3.9 (2.5-6.5) h for group 1, 2.9 (1.5-5.5) h for group 2 and 1.8 (1.0-2.5) h for group 3. The median (range) length of ileus was 3.0 (2-7) days overall; respective times for groups 1-3 were 3.5 (2-7), 3.0 (2-7) and 2.0 (1-4) days. The median (range) length of hospitalization was 7.0 (2-40) days, 8.1 (4-19) days in group 1, 7.0 (4-20) days in group 2 and 6.0 (2-40) days in group 3. Ten patients (14 per cent) developed intraoperative and 15 (20 per cent) postoperative complications; there were no deaths. These results failed to confirm any significant advantages of laparoscopic or laparoscopically assisted colorectal surgery. Specifically, neither the operating time, nor length of ileus, nor length of hospitalization was improved over standard procedures. Advances in technology and surgical technique may improve such findings in the future.

The role of laparoscopic surgery in the treatment of colorectal malignancies is still under investigation, although it can offer significant benefits to many patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). The aim of this study was to assess the pros and cons of the laparoscopic management of IBD. Data were obtained from a review of the literature published since 1992, when the first report of laparoscopic surgery for IBD appeared in print. From 1992 to 1997 several series of laparoscopic colorectal surgery for the management of IBD have been reported. A close evaluation of these studies revealed that laparoscopy in patients with terminal ileal Crohn's disease or anal Crohn's disease in need of fecal diversion offers significant advantages compared to laparotomy, including decreased pain, length of hospitalization, and disability. An additional bonus is improved cosmesis and a reduction in symptomatic postoperative adhesions. These many benefits can be achieved without any increase in morbidity or expense. Conversely, the use of this technology for restorative proctocolectomy in patients with mucosal ulcerative colitis is associated with a longer operative time and an increased incidence of both intra- and postoperative complications compared to laparotomy. Laparoscopic colorectal surgery can thus be advantageous for treatment of terminal ileal Crohn's disease but cannot be routinely justified for the treatment of mucosal ulcerative colitis.

This systematic review was unable to develop a treatment algorithm for recurrent rectal prolapse due to the variety of surgical techniques described and the low level of evidence within heterogeneous studies. Larger high-quality studies are necessary to guide practice in this difficult area.